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Piano Concerto No. 1, W453, is a composition for piano and orchestra by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1945. A performance lasts about 38 minutes.


History

Villa-Lobos composed his First Piano Concerto in Rio de Janeiro in 1945. It was commissioned by the Canadian pianist
Ellen Ballon Ellen Ballon (October 6, 1898 – December 21, 1969) was a Canadian pianist. The daughter of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants, she was born in Montreal, Quebec. A child prodigy, she gave her first concert at the age of five and began studying ...
, who gave the first performance at the
Theatro Municipal Teatro Municipal, Theatro Municipal, Théâtre Municipal or Teatro Municipale (= Municipal theatre) may refer to: * Théâtre municipal d'Albi * Teatro Municipal de Caracas * Teatro Municipal de Chacao * Théâtre municipal de Grenoble * Théâtre ...
in Rio de Janeiro on 11 October 1946, with the composer conducting the Orquestra Sinfônica do Theatro Municipal. Ballon also gave the American premiere of the concerto in Dallas, conducted by
Antal Dorati Antal may refer to: * Andal, 8th-century poet saint of South India * Antal (given name) Antal is a Hungarian given name that is a form of Antonius in use throughout Hungary and in parts of Romania. Notable people with this given name include t ...
in 1946, the Canadian premiere with
Désiré Defauw Désiré Defauw (5 September 1885, Ghent, Belgium – 25 July 1960, Gary, Indiana, United States) was a Belgian conductor and violinist. During World War I he became a refugee, working in London where in 1917 he appeared at the Wigmore Hal ...
on 28 October 1947 at the Plateau Auditorium in Montreal, and the London premiere with
Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...
in 1956. She also recorded the work with
Ernest Ansermet Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor. Biography Ansermet ...
in 1949, with whom she also made return Canadian performances on 30 and 31 January 1951 with the
Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orch ...
.


Instrumentation

The work is scored for solo piano and an orchestra consisting of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (tam-tam, triangle, bass drum), harp, and strings.


Analysis

The concerto has four
movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
: #Allegro #Allegro (poco scherzando) #Andante – Andantino (quasi andante) – Cadenza #Allegro non troppo Although Villa-Lobos adheres to the four-movement structure often found in piano concertos, he makes little effort to follow the traditional structures, based on melodic ideas, within the movements. Instead, he uses rhythmic elements to define sections of movements.


Discography

*''Villa-Lobos: Piano Concerto''.
Ellen Ballon Ellen Ballon (October 6, 1898 – December 21, 1969) was a Canadian pianist. The daughter of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants, she was born in Montreal, Quebec. A child prodigy, she gave her first concert at the age of five and began studying ...
, piano;
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the OSR performs as the opera orchestra in productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. History Er ...
, conducted by
Ernest Ansermet Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor. Biography Ansermet ...
. Recorded at the Victoria Hall, Geneva, June 1949. LP recording, 1 disc, 12 inch, 33⅓ rpm, monaural. London LLP 77. London: London Records, 1949. hird movement heavily cut.**Reissued on CD (with Albéniz: Five movements from ''Iberia'', orch. Arbós, and ''Navarra'', completed by Déodat de Séverac). Decca Eloquence 4800456. Sydney: Decca Records, 2010. *Э. Вилла-Лобос: концерт н1 для фортепиано с оркестром . Villa Lobos: Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra Arthur Moreira-Lima, piano; Moscow Radio Great Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Fedoseev. Recorded 1976. LP recording, 1 disc: 1 audio disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm, stereo; 12 in. stereo. Melodiya C 10-08167-8 (matrix С10-08167/3-1, С10-08168/3-1). oscow Melodiya, 1980. *Heitor Villa-Lobos: 5 concertos para piano e orquestra. Fernando Lopes, piano; Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de Campinas; conducted by Benito Juarez. Recorded 18–24 June 1984, in the Teatro Interno do Centro de Covivência Cultural da Campinas. LP recording, 4 discs: 12 inch, 33⅓ rpm, stereo. Energia de São Paulo: LPVL 01/25 – LPVL 04/25. São Paulo: Energia de São Paulo, 984? *Heitor Villa-Lobos: Five Piano Concertos.
Cristina Ortiz Cristina Ortiz (born April 17, 1950, in Bahia) is a Brazilian pianist. Biography Born in Bahia, Brazil, Cristina Ortiz began her studies in her home country before moving to France with Magda Tagliaferro. Soon after finishing her studies in Par ...
, piano; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Gómez-Martínez. Recorded at the Walthamstow Assembly Hall in October 1989, January and July 1990. 2-CD set: stereo. London 430 628-2 (430 629-2 and 430 630–2). London: The Decca Record Company Limited, 1992. * Heitor Villa-Lobos: Cinco Conciertos para Piano y Orquesta. Elvira Santiago, piano (Concerto No. 1); Ulises Hernández, piano (Concerto No. 2); Patricio Malcolm, piano (Concerto No. 3); Harold López-Nussa, piano (Concerto No. 4); Roberto Urbay, piano (Concerto No. 5); Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba, conducted by Enrique Pérez Mesa. Concerto No. 1 recorded at the Teatro Auditorium Amadeo Roldán, Havana, Cuba, 14 December 2003, part of the XXV Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano. 2 CDs + 1 DVD. Colibrí DVD/CD 050. Havana: Colibrí, 2006.


References

Sources * . * *


Further reading

* Anon. 1956. Festival Hall: Beecham Concert. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', Issue 53684 (9 November): 3. * Fortes Filho, Raimundo M. de Melo. 2004. "Concerto Para Piano e Orquestra n. 1 de Villa-Lobos: Um Estudo Analítico-Interpretativo". Masters thesis, Universidade Federal da Bahia. * Fortes Filho, Raimundo Mentor de Melo, and Diana Santiago. 2004. "A politonalidade no concerto nº 1 para piano e orquestra de Villa-Lobos". In ''Anais do Simpósio de Pesquisa em Música 2004'', edited by Norton Dudeque, 35–48. Curitiba, Brazil: Universidade Federal do Paraná (Departamento de Artes). . * Johnson, Bret. 1992. "Villa-Lobos: Piano Concertos Nos. 1–5 by Cristina Ortiz, Miguel Gomez- Martinez". ''
Tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
'', New Series, No. 182, Russian Issue (September): 60–61. * Salter, Lionel. 1992.
Villa-Lobos Piano Concertos
' (review of CD, performed by Cristina Ortiz, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Gómez-Martínez). '' Gramophone'' (May). * Tarasti, Eero. 1995. ''Heitor Villa-Lobos: The Life and Works, 1887–1959'', translated from the Finnish by the author. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland. . {{Authority control 1945 compositions Piano concertos by Heitor Villa-Lobos Music with dedications